PS22 Chorus

The PS22 Chorus, directed by Gregg Breinberg, is a Webby Award-winning public elementary school chorus from PS 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island, New York City. It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders. PS 22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island. PS22 Chorus has performed with a multitude of musical acts (e.g. Katy Perry, O.A.R., Carrie Underwood, Portugal. The Man, and Fifth Harmony) and has had celebrated appearances on numerous national and international broadcasts throughout the years (including the widely publicized performance of "Over The Rainbow" that closed the 83rd Academy Awards), after its videos had gained worldwide attention within the popular video-sharing site YouTube. To date, the chorus's YouTube videos have been watched more than 100 million times.

History

Students are assigned to the chorus after an annual auditioning process at the beginning of each school year. The chorus meets twice a week during school hours to practice, and performs throughout the year at school functions, local events, and on special requests.Sharyn Alfonsi & Wonbo Wo
"Music Class Is Hit With Kids, Online Viewers"
ABC News Nightline 2009-06-10

The PS22 chorus was founded in 2000 by the school's music teacher, Gregg Breinberg, who led his 2001-2002 PS 22 Chorus to live TV in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. He started blogging in September 2006 about the Chorus, following requests on a Tori Amos fan page, where he had shared some of his videos. Since then the chorus has become an Internet phenomenon. In 2009 ''New York'' magazine called it "the best-known elementary-school chorus on the planet". The director Gregg Breinberg won a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in 2017.

Performance highlights

Chorus of 2006/2007
* The chorus performs for singer-songwriter Tori Amos at the Sony Atrium in New York City. (May 4, 2007)VERENA DOBNI
"P.S. 22 Chorus Gains Fame With Boost From YouTube"
The Huffington Post 2009-06-26
* Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton starts blogging about the PS22 chorus and becomes an influential supporter.

Chorus of 2007/2008
* Neil Finn, lead singer of the New Zealand band Crowded House invites the chorus to sing at the band's sold-out concert in New York. (April 30, 2008)
* Members of the PS22 chorus of 2007/2008 are featured in several videos of the 2009 television series The Electric Company

Chorus of 2008/2009
* The electronic band Passion Pit invites the PS22 chorus to sing background vocals on three tracks (" The Reeling", "Little Secrets", "Let Your Love Grow Tall") of their debut album ''Manners''. (2009-01-16) "The Reeling" is later nominated for an MTV Video Music Award as best breakthrough video.
* The chorus performs with country singer Cooper Boone at a DKMS charity Gala and meets Chelsea Clinton and R&B singer Rihanna. (May 7, 2009)Jason Ga
"Gaga for P.S. 22"
New York Magazine 2009-07-02
* Nightline features an in-depth look at the PS22 Chorus. (June 10, 2009)
* Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) invites the chorus to sing for her at Madison Square Garden. (June 11, 2009)
* The chorus performs on ''Good Morning America'' (ABC) (June 22, 2009)
* The chorus appears on '' It's On with Alexa Chung'' (MTV). (August 3, 2009)
* The chorus is featured on the nationally televised ''VH1 Divas Special 2009'' (September 17, 2009)Ben Johnso
"PS 22 Chorus scores $30,000 from VH1's Save the Music"
silive 2009-09-24

Chorus of 2009/2010
* The newly formed chorus of 2009/2010 is visited by the cast ( Naturi Naughton, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Kherington Payne, Asher Book) and director Kevin Tancharoen of the new 2009 movie '' Fame''. The school is presented a $30,000 check for a new keyboard lab by VH1 Save The Music Foundation Executive Director Paul Cothran, and Director Of Music for New York City Department of Education Barbara Murray. (September 14, 2009)
* ''Billboard'' magazine invites the chorus to perform at an award ceremony for Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. (October 2, 2009)Mariel Concepcio
"Beyonce Accepts Billboard's Woman Of the Year Award, Lady Gaga Is Rising Star"
Billboard Magazine 2009-10-02
* The chorus performs alongside the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland at the Cross Cultural Youth Festival held at The Armory, Washington Heights for 2500 children from all five boroughs of New York. The event is covered by Fox5 New York. (October 27, 2009

* Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, IAVA, invites the chorus to sing at the Third Annual Heroes Gala at Gotham Hall in New York, hosted by NBC's Brian Williams. (November 10, 2009)
* The chorus performs with rapper Common at the National Tree Lighting ceremony at the White House with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden attending. (December 3, 2009)
* During their "Songs From the Heart" tour, Celtic Woman visits PS22 and invites the chorus to join them on two songs at their Radio City Music Hall concert. (February 26, 2010)
*After hearing the chorus's interpretation of his song " One Day", Chasidic reggae artist Matisyahu visits PS22 and invites the chorus to perform two songs at his concert at New York City's 92nd Street Y. (March 16, 2010)

Chorus of 2010/2011
* The students perform at the charity organization "New Yorkers for Children". (September 22, 2010)
* At the ONEXONE Gala supported by Matt Damon, the children sing with Matisyahu. (October 27, 2010)
* The chorus perform at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in Manhattan hosted by NBC Anchor Brian Williams. (November 10, 2010)
* The children are visited by Kylie Minogue and perform with her, including the first ever live performance of "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)". (November 29, 2010)
* The chorus is visited by Bruce Cohen and Anne Hathaway at their 11th Annual Winter Concert and invited to perform at the 83rd Academy Awards. (December 16, 2010)
* The students perform an unprecedented closing number of "Over The Rainbow" at the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27, 2011.
* The children perform with Katy Perry on The Oprah Winfrey Show post Oscar show at the Kodak Theatre. (February 28, 2011)
* The chorus perform together with The Bangles at the Tribeca Film Festival (April 20, 2011)
* Freelance Whales visits the school and performs with the Chorus. The children join in on singing "Hannah" and "Generator ^First Floor" as well as listened to the Freelance Whales perform "Generator ^Second Floor" all of which were from the album Weathervanes (March 30, 2011)
* David Cook visits PS22 and performs several songs including " The Last Goodbye" and "Rolling in the Deep" with the chorus. (June 10, 2011)
* The group reunites to perform a 40-minute set at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. (July 30, 2011)
* PS22 Chorus appears on Sesame Street in a video singing the iconic Sesame song "Somebody Come and Play." (October 21, 2011)
* Documentary about the 2010-11 chorus entitled "Once In A Lullaby: The PS22 Chorus Story" premieres at Tribeca Film Festival. (April 29, 2012)
* PS22 Chorus "Firework" video appears in Katy Perry 3-D film, Part of Me. (July 4, 2012)

Chorus of 2011/2012
* The children are visited by artist V V Brown who performs several songs with the chorus. (November 16, 2011)
* The chorus performed with Thirty Seconds to Mars for the songs " Closer to the Edge" and " Kings and Queens" in what was most likely their final concert at Saint Peter's Church in Chelsea, New York. (December 10, 2011)
* The children are visited by artist Susan Justice and film several songs with her. (January 27, 2012)
* PS22 Chorus alumnus Denise Bestman appears in a commercial for Target singing the song "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele which airs during the 2012 Grammys. (February 12, 2012)
* The students perform a tribute to Whitney Houston singing "The Greatest Love of All" on the Piers Morgan Tonight show on CNN. (February 17, 2012)
* Sinéad O'Connor invites PS22 to open up her show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC, and joins the chorus onstage to perform her song "Jackie." (February 24, 2012)
* The kids sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to legendary singer-songwriter, Paul Simon, at 2012 New Yorker for New York Gala (February 27, 2012)
* PS22 Chorus performs at NEA's (National Education Association) Read Across America Event at New York Public Library featuring Zac Efron and Danny DeVito in honor of the birthday of Dr. Seuss

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